Sewing pad



Dec. 10, 1940. c THlLLARD 2,224,751

SEWING PAD Filed March 9, 1939 INVENTOR I E Mari/2a GT/zz'ZZa/n'.

f TTORNEY Patented Dec. 10, 1940 PAT 'ElilT OFFICE SEWING PAD Martha 0.Thillard, New York, N. Y.

Application March 9, 1939, Serial No. 260,712

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a work-holder for use in sewing, and moreparticularly to a pad which may be secured to a persons leg so thatfabrics being sewed can be pinned thereto to hold them in positionduring sewing. In sewing fabrics held in the lap, and particularly insuch operations as hemming, .it is usually desirable to secure one edgeof the fabric in some manner, holding the other end of the fabric withone hand and performing the sewing operation with the other hand.Stretching the edge of the fabric, or a section of the edge of thefabric, in some manner makes it possible to obtain a more even hem thanwould be possible otherwise. The free edge of the 5 material issometimes held between the knees, tucked under one leg, or it may bepinned to the skirt for this purpose, but such a support for thematerial is insecure at best, and may damage the clothes. This isparticularly true when the fabric catch a thread of the stockingsunderneath and thus start runs in the stockings.

My invention is designed to overcome these difficulties and provides asecured fixed support to which fabrics may be pinned during sewing.

Itis an object of this invention to provide a pad to which fabrics maybe pinned, such pad having a means for securing it to ones leg.

Another object of the invention is to provide a band in the nature of around garter having a padded portion held securely in place so thatfabrics may be pinned thereto during sewing, either directly to the pador through the skirt.

Other objects will be apparent from a more detailed description of theembodiments of my invention illustrated in the drawing, in which Figure1 is a perspective view of a work-holder in accordance with myinvention, the dotted lines indicating the portion of the leg to whichit may be secured just above the knee.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the workholder in collapsed position.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing an adjustable strapfor varying the circumferential length of the band.

Referring to the drawing, numeral l0 indicates a band constructed ofsuitable fabric or other material, having a relatively wide paddedportion ll. Padded portion II also is preferably made fairly thick andmay be stuffed with any of various fabrics or materials held in place bythe crossed lines of stitching I! in order to provide a solid pad towhich fabrics may be readily secured with pins. While this paddedportion ll may be made very thick, it is preferably padded just sumispinned to the skirt because the pins frequently ciently to hold pinssecurely and protect the stocking underneath. The pad thus may be madeto lie fiat without bulging if it should be worn under the skirt. Themain portion of the band l0 may be finished at the edges with suitablebinding tapes I3. One section of the band, preferably spacedcircumferentially from the padded portion ll, may be made of elasticmaterial This elastic material [4 is preferably fairly wide in order tobe comfortable, and may be secured to the ends of the main band II] bythe stitching l5.

Instead of providing an elastic section M, an adjustable strap l6(Figure 3) may be fixed to one end of the band I 0, as at I1, anddoubled over through a suitable elongated ring l8 secured to the otherend of the band It. The other end of strap l6 may be secured to thecentral member of the buckle l9. Buckle l9, which may be of any suitableconstruction adapted to slide on the main portion of the strap I6, isthereby used to adjust the effective circumferential length of the band.The strap l6 may be made of elastic or inelastic material. e

In operation, the band l0, if not of the proper size, may be adjusted tothe size needed and slipped on over the leg to a point preferably justabove the knee. The band is adjusted so that the padded portion II isuppermost. The piece of fabric to be hemmed or otherwise sewed is thenpinned to the padded portion H either directly, if the skirt has beenpulled up to expose the band ID, or the fabric may be pinned to thepadded portion I I through the skirt. The edge of the fabric may then bepulled out away from the workholder with one hand while it is beingsewed with the other hand.

This pad is held securely in place and thus provides a firm support forthe fabric to be sewed. Fabrics may thus be stretched out as tightly asdesired by pulling with the left hand preparatory to and during sewingwith the right hand. Even though the fabric is pinned to the paddedportion ll through the skirt, no strain is placed on the skirt by reasonof the firm support for the pin underneath it. In addition, the padprevents the pins from touching the stockings and thus saves onstockings.

Many modifications and variations of my invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. For example, the work-holder may be made witha suitable fastening so that it can be fastened around the leg withoutthe necessity of slipping it on over the foot. Other means for securingthe work-holder to the leg may be employed.

A particular advantage of my work-holder is its invisibility when aworker wearing it stands up. Since the Work-holder is then covered bythe skirt, each time the sewing operation may be interrupted.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the useof such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of thefeatures shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize thatvarious modifications are possible within the scope of the inventionclaimed.

I claim:

As an article of manufacture, a work-holder for use in sewing comprisinga band constructed and arranged to be held in a fixed position on aworker's leg, and a relatively flat pad associated with and wider thansaid band and adapted to have fabric pinned thereto, said pad beingsulficiently flat to avoid bulging when worn under a skirt andsufficiently solid to hold a fabric pinned thereto in a fixed position.

MARTHA C. THILLARD.

